Paper Tiger: UK police end up in standoff with stuffed toy

This toy tiger sparked a nearly hour-long stand off with police in Scotland. (Courtesy of UK Cop Humor/FOXNews.com)

This toy tiger sparked a nearly hour-long stand off with police in Scotland. (Courtesy of UK Cop Humor/FOXNews.com)

Posted: Feb 09 2018 11:29AM MST

Updated: Feb 09 2018 11:51AM MST

LONDON (AP/FOX News) - Crouching tiger, hidden ... toy. Police in Scotland were called by a farmer who thought a big cat had invaded his cow shed. They ended up in a 45-minute standoff with a large stuffed tiger.

Police thought they had the tiger by the tail when they were deployed to a farm in Peterhead in Aberdeenshire, sending in a number of units, including an armed response team. The authorities eventually realized it was a toy.

Peterhead Inspector George Cordiner says "until you know exactly what you are dealing with, every option has to be considered."

The Scottish edition of the Sun newspaper reported that the farmer, Bruce Grubb, went out to check on his cows while he was having a housewarming party and saw the 'tiger" on a ramp.

The paper quoted Grubb as saying: "I was stone cold sober, drink had nothing to do with me thinking it was real."

A Facebook group -- UK Cop Humor -- shared photos of the stuffed animal and poked fun at the officers who reported to the farm.

"Nervous radio updates start coming in stating it was unclear if the Tiger has eaten any cattle but it appeared well fed and it’s ears were seen to twitch but other than that it was very settled," the post said. "After some time a rather sheepish sounding Sergeant comes on the air and declares that it was indeed a stuffed toy!"

Police describe the incident as a "false call made with genuine good intent," though they did allow that officers had a "roaring shift on Saturday night."